Rail-anchor.



E. J. FERGUSON.

RAIL ANCHOR.

APPLICATION FILED APRG, 1911.

Patented 0015. 21, 1913.

"entrain EDWARD J. FERGUSON, 0F SANTA RQSA, CALIFORNIA.

EAIL-ANCHQR.

intense.

fipeeification of Letters Eatent.

Patenteolqlot. 231,

Application filed April 6, 191-1. Serial No. 619,298.

Santa Rosa, in the county, of Schema and State of Qalifornia have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Air chors,,'of which the followingis a specifi-' cation.

The present invention relates in general to railways, and is in the nature of a rail brace or anchor, the object of the invention being the provision of a device of this char-- acter embodying novel features of construe tion whereby the rails will be securely held against lateral spreading or longitudinal creeping.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a rail anchor which is simple and inexpensive in its construction, which can be quickly and correctly placed in position by, unskilled. labor, and which coinprises few and durable parts such as will readily withstand the wear and tear to which such devices are subjected when in use.

With these and other objects in view, the inventl n consists in certain novel coinhinations and arrangements of the parts as will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the novel features thereof being pointed out in the appended claim.

For afull understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in

Figure 1 is a transversesectionalview through a railroad track showing one of the rail anchors applied to the rails, portions being broken away. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. a detail perspective view of one of the clamping washers. Fig. 4 is a top plan view showing a modified form of the invention, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawing by the same reference characters. f

, Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing,

the numerals l designate a pair of rails which rest upon the usual ties 2 andrnay be secured thereto in the usual manner; The rail anchor comprises a pair of sir'nilar and interchangeable rods 3 which have the inner ends tlfereof threaded at 4 for engage ment with a turn buckle 5. the outer er ds of the rods extending under the bases of the frespectiverails 1 and having the extremities thereof returned upwardly at 6 for engageinent with the basal flanges of the rails. Locking nuts 7 are also threaded upon the inner ends of the rods so as to be tightened against the ends of the turn buckle and prevent the same from working loose after the turn buckle has been properly adjusted. The portions of the r0 ls'3 which are disposed under the rails are enlarged as indicated at 3, and the inner ends of these enlarged portions are threaded at 8 for engagement with nuts 9, the said threaded portions 8 being disposed substantially under the inner sides of the rail bases. The clamping nuts are slipped freely over the inner ends of the rods 3 until they come into contact with the enlarged portions 3 of the'rods, when they are caused to eneagef the threads 8. Clamping washers 1.0 are interposed between the nuts 9 and the basal flanges ot the rails the said clamping nuts "being formed wit-h'openings l1 suflioiently large to slip freely over'the enlarged portions 3 of the rods, and being also formed with transverse grooves 12 which are arranged tangential to the openings 1l and are designed to receive the inner edges of the base flanges of the rails. With this construction it will be apparent that by tight suing the nuts 9 the rail bases will. be clamped between the washers 10 and the returned ends 6 of the rods, and that by properly adjusting the turn buckle 5 the rails can be moved either toward'or away from each other and then looked in proper post tion by tightening the locking nuts 7 against the ends of the turn buckle.

A slight modification is shown in Figs. 4.-- and 5' which may be found useful upon steep grades where there is a very strong tendency for the rails to move longitudinally under a heavylo'ad. 'The rods 3 are formed as in the previous construction and are con structed with-the returned outer ends 6 and the threaded portions 8 for engagement with the clamping nuts 9. Washer members 13 are fitted upon the rods 3 between the clamping nuts 9 and the rails, the lower ends of the washer members being formed with transversely dispr .d plates adapted to bear against a side oi? the adjacent tie 2, while the upper end of the washer rnen1- her is exten ed inw 'ly at 15 so as to fit over awedge Z'rlPml.) This wedge mean her is interposed between the rail base and the washer member and is shown as formed with teeth 17 to bite into and securely engage the rail. Itwill thus be apparent that the wedge member will move with the rail, and that should the rail have a tendency to creep in the direction indicated by the arrow upon Fig. 4, the bearing plate 14 will,

be forced against the tie and the device caused to grip the rail more securely by the action of the wedge member against the Washer 14. This would effectively preder the respective rails, the outer ends of the rods being hooked to engage the outer edges of the rail bases While the inner ends nggenea of the rods are threaded a turn buckle en'- gaging the said threaded inner ends of the tie rods, nutsthreaded' upon intermediate portions of the rods adjacent the inner edges of the rail bases, washer members fitted upon the'rods betweenthe nuts and the ner edges of the railbases and formed with tie to p'reventcreepingytheupper ends} of thewasher members being bent laterally, and wedge members interposed between the washer members and 'the rail bases, said wedge members'being'held in position bythe laterally bent upper ends vof the Washer members and being constructed to positively engage the rails.

In testimony whereof I aflix my in presence of two witnesses. v

EDWARD J. FERGUSON. \Vitnesses:

F. MoG. MARTIN, M. E. FERGUSONQ signature 

